After breakfast, he reluctantly climbed into a carriage heading for town. The carriage came to a halt before a supply shop after several minutes and he climbed down. He pushed the door open and the small bell that hung above the door rang to announce his presence.

"Lord Williams?"

He turned toward the direction of the voice to find Mrs. Grayson, the shop's owner, making her way toward him with a frown on her face.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, brown eyes filled with surprise. "When was the last time I laid eyes on you?"

He shrugged. "I need supplies."

"You always send someone else to do that. I can't help but be surprised by your presence." She watched him.

He didn't exactly like being the center of Mrs. Grayson’s attention or the fact that he was quickly becoming the center of the entire shop's attention.

"It's nice to see you anyway, Lord Williams." She smiled. "If you will come with me, I shall help you with whatever you need." She offered politely, before turning around. He followed silently behind.

Once he was done with his shopping, he paid for the goods and thanked Mrs. Grayson.

"Of course," She smiled and bobbed her head, strands of her brown locks bouncing in sync with the movement of her head. "I have missed you around here and I would love to see you again." She reached into her apron. "There's going to be a play tonight at the theater, you should attend,” she pulled out a ticket and shoved it in his hands before he got the chance to protest. "My daughter shall be in attendance as well and it will be great if you could make it, for I would love for you to meet her. You know, Lucy is all grown up now and it'll be nice if she has someone like you in her life." She offered him a knowing smile, one he found quite irritating. He immediately regretted his decision to get the supplies himself.

Staring at the ticket she held out to him. A frown immediately settled on his face. He knew there was no use in arguing with yet another mother whose intention was to have him get married to her daughter. However, he decided it was important to make his displeasure known.

Taking the ticket from her hands, he squeezed it, his action forcing a frown to the woman's face as the paper crumbled to the ground. He turned sharply around and made his way out of the shop.

Settling into his carriage, he frowned at Mrs. Grayson's antics. His encounter with her only seemed to give credence to his decision to stay away for as long as he had, from social gatherings since Juliet decided to run off. As a matter of fact, much of his life ceased to exist the second Juliet decided to leave him. It almost felt like she took a huge chunk of him along with her, he thought, his frown deepening. It was true that Juliet ruined his life when she left him, but perhaps he was helping her to ruin it further by deciding to isolate himself from the rest of the world?